A group of 21 young Tibetan artists, intellectuals, writers, translators and activists have presented a letter called “memorandum” to Ms Nirupama Rao, the Foreign Secretary of India on her visit to Dharamshala this weekend.”Some of us are born and raised in India while others have escaped from Tibet and since then living on this side of the Himalayas. We welcome you to Dharamshala as you arrive with the fresh rain of monsoon,” the group said in thier letter.
“When Tibetans first sought asylum in India following the footsteps of our leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan freedom struggle was in its formative phase; there was neither the international awareness nor was there political education and understanding within the Tibetan community. It was the kindness of India and her people who opened the doors of their homes to us and we made it our second home,” the letter said.
In their letter, the group said “Today, after 50 years of being in exile, Tibetan youngsters grow up in India like most young Indians with modern education and outlook, but we are always aware of our identity and responsibilities towards our struggle and our leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It is partly because of India’s support to our cause that the Tibetan struggle not only survived the difficult period but got resurrected to this level of international awareness and confidence within the struggle. We are grateful to the government and people of India. Please accept our deepest gratitude.”
“The Tibetan struggle is not just to find a temporary arrangement for the exile Tibetans to return home, but to seek a long-term interest for the survival of the Tibetan people and the nation. And therefore whatever may be the policies being held by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the exile government; we believe very strongly that the goal of the struggle cannot be anything less than Independence. Only an independent Tibet can guarantee the survival of the Tibetan people, our culture and the nation. The 2008 uprising in Tibet is a clear public mandate that the Tibetans in Tibet are willing to even die, but not live under Chinese colonial rule,” the group stated in the letter.
“We understand that the Government of India is dealing with People’s Republic of China as a neighbour today. We are also aware that the Indian government still holds its decades old policy on Tibet saying: “Autonomous Region of Tibet is a part of the People’s Republic of China”, and that has not been reviewed all these time while there is a mounting Chinese military, political and environmental pressures on India,” they added.
The group also added that “Between the 1947 founding of Indian independence and 1949 Chinese invasion of Tibet, India and Tibet shared two years of friendly relationship as independent nations. So long as China continues its occupation of Tibet India will never be able to solve its border issues amicably with China. Therefore we urge you to take this petition to the Government of India – our plea for a review of India’s policy towards Tibet. Only by recognizing the historical independence of Tibet – with whom the Himalayan borders were decided through bilateral treaties – can India validate its legal and historical claim over its Himalayan states which have been challenged time and again by the People’s Republic of China.”
“We the younger generation Tibetans see in India a significant role she can play in re-establishing the independence of Tibet and maintain a brotherly relationship with future Tibet,” the letter concluded.

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